There should be more outrage from blacks about Robert Mugabe’s power grab.

The leader of Zimbabwe has stayed in power by strong-arming his opponents and creating a climate of death so inhospitable that his chief opponent had to drop out of the runoff for fear of his life.

Of course, everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, should be appalled by Mugabe’s behavior.

But black leaders have a special responsibility, since they backed Mugabe when he led Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, to majority rule and independence from a white apartheid regime back in 1980.

Mugabe has not turned out to be a Nelson Mandela, however. Increasingly over the years, the Zimbabwean autocrat has become drunk with power.

On March 29, Mugabe lost the election to Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, 47 percent to 43 percent. However, because Tsvangirai did not obtain 50 percent of the vote a runoff was set for June 27.

Almost immediately, Mugabe and his supporters declared a war on democracy and laid siege to the opposition and its supporters.

Tsvangirai was arrested several times as he tried to campaign for the election. According to the Los Angeles Times, 85 opposition activists were killed. In addition, the violence displaced hundreds of thousands of citizens from their homes.

The violence intensified as the runoff neared. As a result, Tsvangirai and his party decided to bow out. Mugabe held the election anyway, despite worldwide denunciation, and declared victory not long after the polls closed.

So where is the chorus of condemnation from the black leadership and press? Where are the speeches, press releases, petitions, organized protests, commentary, and other manifestations of condemnation regarding Robert Mugabe?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, at least, said something.

"We are pained, given the tremendous role that Zimbabwe played in liberating southern Africa from colonial rule,” he said.

But “pained” is not nearly a strong enough word.

Jackson himself noted the irony.

"If this were a white regime in Zimbabwe seen as holding up an election, the world would cry out to ask for fairness and open, free fair election,” he said.

During the waning days of South Africa’s apartheid system, black leaders kept the world focus on the issue by speaking out, getting arrested outside the South African Embassy daily and working through diplomatic channels to bring about change.

TransAfrica Forum, the social justice and human rights advocacy organization, has spoken out against Mugabe.

So, too, has Sen. Barack Obama. “It is time for the government of Robert Mugabe to cease its repressive and divisive actions, and to allow Zimbabweans to pursue their hopes for legitimate political change and opportunity,” he said last year. And prior to the sham runoff, Obama again condemned Mugabe for his complete disregard of democracy and for sowing violence.

But where are the voices of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and so many others?

Now is the time for black leadership and all blacks to speak out openly and forcefully on the issue and to pressure other African nations to put pressure on Mugabe.

A march to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington, D.C., to deliver a petition would be a good place to start.

Brian Gilmore, a poet and a lawyer, lives in Takoma Park, Md. He can be reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.